Thinking of You, Wherever You Are
by Lady Lemon Drop
Summary: In the war raged world of the future, Hermione Granger seeks to find the man she lost so many years ago.
1. Thinking of You

_Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter._

_A/N: This story very much so came out of the quote below the title. I love that game to the end of the earth, the entire series is fantastic, and I'm happily awaiting _KH3_, and the release of _Birth By Sleep_ on PSP over in the UK =] This was also greatly inspired by some things that happened to me today. One being that I was in a car crash, and the other being that this lovely young girl died today, in a tragic accident ='[ I didn't know her very well, but my love goes out to her and her family. I hope you like it; let me know what you think._

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**Thinking of You, Wherever You Are**

_Thinking of you, wherever you are. We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend. Now I will step forward to realize this wish. And who knows: starting a new journey may not be so hard, or maybe it has already begun. There are many worlds, and they share the same sky - __**one sky, one destiny**__. _

– Kairi's letter, **Kingdom Hearts II** (Video Game)

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Prologue

The war between Voldemort and the light was five years strong, and dwindling. He was winning, and Hermione was powerless to stop him. He'd taken so much from her already; she just didn't know how much more she could take. One of these days she'd just snap, become unhinged or erupt into that dormant volcano that was constantly awaiting a violent rupture. Her resolve was slowly deteriorating, and she was just about ready to give up.

To hand herself in to him and let him to it for her, or end her life on her own terms. She'd never been one to give up, and she'd never dream of killing herself. But then he left, and she was as good as alone, so of course that changed everything.

But she had Luna by her side, and Luna was everything right now. She was all she had, and all that was making her continue to put one foot in front of the other.

Then came December 21st, and all hell broke loose. Something went in Hermione's mind, and she decided enough was enough. She and Luna had been walking through a small town to the south of the country, ready to visit a good friend's grave, when a Death Eater, posing as a stray cat in his animagus form, transformed before their eyes and killed Luna within seconds, before either could react.

They'd chosen the opportune moment, the only time that neither would be all that fixated on their surroundings, the one time they let their guard down. So they'd waited, and waited, for them to visit their friend, and ambushed them in the most heartless way possible, and now Luna Lovegood lay dead at Hermione Grangers feet and she stood motionless, waiting for that final curse to take her life. But nothing came.

She turned and saw the man in the black cloak and silver mask baring a malicious smirk and realised that he had no intention of killing her. She was the only one left. They'd rather she slowly killed herself with the despair of it all then do it for her. Because it would hurt her so much more.

And that thing inside her snapped, the volcano erupted and she became truly angry for the first time since... well, since _he_ died. Forgetting her magic, and her birthright as a witch, she threw herself at the man with all the strength she had left in her. With the blind rage, and loathing seething through her veins she punched the man as hard as she could.

He hit the ground, in shock. She braced one booted foot upon his chest and drew her wand with all the intention of killing the man at her mercy. It was the first time she'd ever been able to utter such a curse, the first time she'd been able to truly mean it, to want someone dead so irrevocably and completely. And she felt no remorse.

Hermione pocketed her wand, and picked up her blonde haired friend, apparating back to their once great and mighty headquarters out in the wilderness of Scotland. She ever so carefully laid Luna on her bed, covering her and closing her eyes as if she were only asleep.

"We may not have ever seen eye to eye on some of your ideas..." She started. "But you were my friend, and I love you for that. You've helped me so much over these past couple of years; I truly do not know what I'm going to do without you..." She paused, smiling to herself. "I'd love to say that I hope for you to be hunting those Snorkacks where ever you are..." She leaned forward. "But until you bring me conclusive proof, they aren't real." She whispered.

She backed up, drawing her wand once again. "I'm so sorry, Luna." Walking from the building, she set the front door of the wooden house alight and watched it burn for a short while, the smoke reaching right up to the heavens. Shaking her head, and admitting defeat, she apparated back to that town, stepped over the dead body of her friends' murderer, and stopped by the grave she'd intended to visit.

Hermione looked up at the star spattered sky as the sun started to rise behind the shielding mountains and sighed at the magnitude of things to come. She had a lot to do, and little time to do it in. But he was out there somewhere. And when she found him, everything would get so much easier. She traced the inscription on her best friends' grave with great care.

'Thinking of you, wherever you are'

She spoke these words out before her in the softest of tones, almost like a prayer, and then disintegrated into grains of sand to be carried away by the slight breeze upon the shadowy grave that once was Godrics Hallow.

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A/N: Yeah... not sure where I'm going with this. I just cant sleep, and needed to do something to occupy myself. Tell me what you think, and if there's enough demand for it, I'll continue it. Otherwise, I have a couple other stories I'm writing that need attention to =]


	2. Dreaming of You

_Thinking of You, Wherever You Are_

**Chapter One: Dreaming of You**

Those tiny particles of sand slowly reconnected to form a young woman, her long brown hair wet from the rain the night before. She lay on that same spot on the grass and slept for what must have been hours, because the night turned to day, and soon the sheer heat of the sun in August was burning her back, awaking her from her slumber.

Sitting up on the now completely dried out grass, she groaned as every bone in her body ached in protest. What the hell had happened? Squinting up at the sun, she stood in confusion, stumbling as her legs tried to support her weight. It was December, wasn't it? Surely it shouldn't be this sunny...

Something touched her arm and she flinched, going to withdraw her wand, but she couldn't find it. Panic beginning to take over, she turned to the source of disturbance.

It was a young lad of about 16, beyond over weight and looking rather confused and frightened. "Uhm... are you okay? You look – well I just... I... t-this is my house, you know? Didn't really expect to wake up to some girl passed out in my garden..."

She tried to speak but her mouth was dry, looking around her at her surroundings instead. She was in the front garden of a house on a long street of identical buildings, immaculate grass... everything was grey, and plain... why did it look so familiar?

The sun was beginning to shine in on her vision, forcing her to shield her eyes with her forearm. "W-what-" She cleared her throat. "What date is it?"

The bloke looked at her like she was crazy. "August 2nd." he said carefully.

Her heart started to beat out of her chest. Not December 21st? "What year?"

He frowned. "1996." He said slowly, as if she were stupid. "Would you like me to call for a doctor, or something? Your parents... friends...?"

She shook her head violently, hands in her slowly drying hair. 1996? No. It couldn't be. She wasn't even in the same friggin' time, never mind the fact that she seemed to have migrated from Harry's grave at Godrics Hallow to some random street god knows where in the country. She sat down heavily on the deck chair out on the lawn, her head starting to spin.

"I was in 2001." She gasped. "How did I get here?"

The boy took a step back. "Look, I'm going to go at get my mum and dad, alright, they can get someone to help you. You need help..." He was backing up into the house when someone came walking up along the pavement along side the house, opening the front gate.

"Orite, Dud? You just get up?"

Dud. Dud...

"Dudley!" She exclaimed, pointing at the boy now looking particularly scared, about a foot from his front door. "You're Dudley Dursley, aren't you?"

His eyes widened. "How do you know my name?"

The person that had just entered through the gate turned to her. "Hermione?" he asked incredulously. "Hermione, what the hell are you doing here?"

She looked over at him and found a much younger, so much more alive Harry Potter standing looking rather taken aback just inside the front garden of his cousins house.

Dudley backed up slightly more. "You know this madwoman?"

Harry gave him a condescending look. "She's not a madwoman... just very strong willed... and wet. Hermione what happened to you? You're a right mess..."

"I don't know." She whispered, slightly lost, standing to her feet, unable to keep her eyes off of her once very much dead, very much younger friend.

Dudley was at the door now. "She's one of your lot isn't she? I'm telling Dad! You know he doesn't like your lot anywhere near us!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Hermione, how can you not know? You're drenched... and... what the hell are you wearing?"

She didn't even look down at the combat designed robes she was wearing, tears starting to leak from the corners of her eyes. "I really don't know... I'm sorry." She tried to turn away but he grabbed her arm, hugging her tight.

"Hey... look, I dunno what's wrong with you, Hermione, but... well as I say – you're soaked, you don't know what happened to you or how you got here, you're shaking, you're crying, and your looking at me like you've seen a ghost." He looked down at her with worry. "You should come inside, get dry..."

"Your aunt and uncle..." she managed to whisper.

"I really couldn't care, Hermione, you're my best friend, I'm not going to turn you away just because of them, not when you're like this." He gave her a reassuring look, both hands cradling her face. "Come on – you cant stay out here like this."

He tried to sheppard her inside, only for her to grab his upper arms and stop him from moving away, doing that one thing she'd wanted to do for so long, for 7 years she'd pushed the thought away and been his friend. But no all she cared about was here, now, and the fact that she was with him, and he was alive.

So she kissed him, damning the consequences.

Surely this was a dream anyway, right? It couldn't possibly be real. She must have just fallen asleep on his grave and let her mind conjure up something that could only ever be completely fictional.

She knew, because he was only 16. He was alive. And he was kissing her back.

Her Harry didn't see her like that. His arms slid around her waist and he pulled her close. She'd never felt safer in her life. Of course it was over far too quickly, interrupted by the sound of Vernon Dursley shouting abuse. But he didn't let her go, not even as he shouted back, allowing her to relax into his arms and hope against hope that, if this was indeed a dream, her subconscious would get rid of Vernon.

Instead she found herself half way up a set of stairs before she was being ushered alone to the top, Harry stopping to argue. "She's like you, alright? Her parents are non-magical. She doesn't even have her wand on her, she's in a right state, surely even you can see that!"

The man at the bottom of the staircase was starting to turn purple. "I won't be having-"

A woman directly behind him grabbed his shoulder and shook her head. "Just leave it. Let him sort her out, then they can both leave." She gave Harry a significant look and he nodded once, disappearing up the stairs after Hermione.

He ushered her into his bedroom and sat her down on the end of his bed, laughing nervously. "What's gotten into you?"

She shook her head. "I've just missed you so much..."

"Yeah, well I've missed you too, but... well..."

She didn't say anything.

He sighed. "Alright, do you want a shower to warm up or what?" She shook her head. "Some clothes to change into...? You can't stay like that."

She sighed and nodded once. "Can I have a drink?"

He nodded, jumping to his feet. "Of course. Just... grab whatever you want."

He was about to leave when she held out her hand to stop him. "Can I borrow your wand a second?"

"Hermione you can't do magic out of school."

"I know. That doesn't matter right now." He gingerly handed her his wand and walked out down the hall to get her a glass of water.

She quickly dried her clothes, and her hair, removing all the built in protective charms and materials from them to make it more comfortable before grabbing one of Harry's hoodies and pulling it over her head in an attempt to get warm. She was so cold...

He reappeared in front of her, handing her the glass of water, watching as she sipped it silently. "Better now?"

She nodded slowly, clearing her throat. "Much, thanks." She wrapped her arms around herself nervously. "You have to leave now, because of me..." She said sadly. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to – I still don't even know how I got here, what happened to me..."

He pulled her to her feet and held her tight. "Don't be stupid, I hate it here as it is, I'm happy for an excuse to leave early."

She buried her face into his chest. "Where are you going to go?"

He tilted his head back slightly as he thought. "To Ron's, I suppose. He won't mind, he'd been owling for me to come through sooner anyway."

Hermione nodded. "Of course." She smiled. "I need to get home... my parents... they'll be wondering what happened to me." Her heart lifted considerably at the thought of seeing her parents after all this time. If this was real or not, in 1996 her parents were alive, and she fully intended upon seeing them.

He let her go. "Right, I'm just going to pack my stuff together, then we'll take the Knight Bus to yours, I want to make sure you get there okay." He sat her back down again and took no care in quickly throwing everything he could see into his trunk.

Hermione sat awkwardly for a few minutes as she did, taking the time to quietly assess the situation.

So... if this was a dream, her mind had conjured up this wonderful situation where she could potentially coerce Harry into staying with her for the rest of the summer, giving her the chance to finally be with him the way she always wanted to.

And if it wasn't... she'd somehow been given the chance to change the past. And she'd kicked off by getting Harry kicked out of his aunt and uncles house, and kissing him spontaneously.

But how was she supposed to know which one it was?

"Hermione?" She looked up to see Harry standing before her with his trunk beside him, his worried frown fixed to her. "Hermione... we need to go. We can... talk about this on the bus."

She knew what he meant. She'd kissed her, and he didn't know what to do about it. Now that he'd made sure she was alright, there was no denying it. She looked at the smooth, scarless features on his face, the almond shaped, beautifully green eyes, rosebud lips and angular jaw. Long, thick, and annoyingly scruffy jet black hair, tall, lean frame... and those horribly baggy clothes that once belonged to his cousin, hiding what she knew was the startings of what would be the sculpted, gently muscular form he had in the future. Built for speed, agility, strength, and above all, power. And his hands. Long, pale spindly fingers that had just before been cupping her cheeks.

Dream or reality? Dream... or...

She closed her eyes.

One more time couldn't hurt. If she was going to wake up anytime soon, or have him tell her that he loved her as a friend, she deserved this one final moment with him before he had to leave her again.

Standing to her feet, she stood before him with her face clearly torn with emotion, tears already forming in her eyes long before her lips connected with his once, then twice, throwing all of her heart and soul into him, and in the tears that began to run down her cheeks and onto his. She gasped, and then sobbed, holding one shaking hand down over her mouth.

"Don't you _dare,_ EVER, leave me again. Do you understand me?" She said fiercely, her voice raw.

He shook his head. "I never..."

"Yes you did!" She cried, dropping both hands onto his chest. "You left me, you promised you would always be there, and you left me. All. On. My. Own." She punctuated her final words with soft punches to his torso. "Please, don't leave me on my own again..." she whispered. "I _need_ you."

Bless him, he looked so confused. And yet he still held her until she stopped sobbing silently, and whispered to her how he'd make up for whatever he did, that he swore on his life that he would never leave her side.

She wiped her eyes with a sniff on the backs of her sleeves, looking up at him with blotchy eyes. "You're staying with me. Not Ron. You can't... I live closer." She nodded to herself as if that was a suitable enough reason. "I live closer. And you wanted to talk, right?"

He nodded once, dumbstruck.

"Go downstairs and tell them you'll be leaving now, then come back up. We'll have to apparate; Dumbledore has Order members monitoring your house."

Harry shook his head. "Hermione, you can't apparate. And you're 16! It's illegal!"

She shook her head with a small humourless laugh. "Yes. And I don't care. Go tell them, I'll be waiting."

He shook his head slowly, but went. "Fine. But when we get to yours, you owe me a massive explanation. The magic use, the apparation, how you got here, where you were before now, why you're acting so weird, and why you kissed me."

She smiled. "Don't worry about that bit. We need to hurry. My parents will be worried sick."

He ran downstairs, back in a flash with minimal upset, and handed her his wand without hesitation as she shrunk his trunk and apparated them to her front garden, not at all taking into account any passersby or neighbours. She made to wade her way through the long grass of what was pretty much a field but he grabbed her hand.

"First, before we go in, I need to know... I need to know why you kissed me. You... I'm your best friend, you appeared in my front lawn and you kissed me. Now, I can wait for everything else, but I really don't think I can sit through hours of your parents coddling you to know how you feel about me."

"I may be your best friend, but you liked it." She grinned, seeing her parents coming running out of the house at the sight of her.

"Hermione..." He pleaded, going slightly pink in the cheeks.

She bit her bottom lip. Dream... reality... amazing dream or... the possibility of alienating her friendship and creating a completely different future from the one she was in.

Taking a deep breath, she replied with a squeeze of his hand before her parents got there, hurried and slightly too loud to carry over the strong wind at the top of the hill they were on. "Because I love you. I always have... and I always will."

He dropped her hand in shock, but by then her parents had already enveloped her in a bone crushing hug. It was mean of her, she knew, but it was the only way that she'd know. If it was real, he'd be completely taken aback, take time to take it in, be afraid, hate her, tell her he wasn't at that point_ - real_ emotions. If it wasn't he'd accept it and tell her he loved her too, straight off.

She looked at his expression over her parents shoulders. So here was the deciding moment:

Was this a dream, or had she really travelled back in time?

_A/N: I hope this gives you more of a basis to go on as to whether you want to see more on this. I just sort of scribbled this while I had a free hour in between redecorating my room so... yeah. Let me know what you think._


	3. Remembering You

**Thinking of You, Wherever You Are**

_Remembering You_

She watched Harry carefully all the way into the house. He was slightly pale, his head down, and he refused to look at her. Her heart started to flutter. Could it really be real? Hermione's mum and dad let her go.

"We woke up yesterday morning and you weren't in your bed!" cried mum hysterically. "We thought you'd ran away… or… or you'd gone out into the woods on your own like you did when you were a little girl and someone had taken you…" She was crying.

She knew the situation was out of her hands, but she still felt guilty for worrying her. "Oh god no, mum, nothing like that! I just… had a bad dream and went for a walk early in the morning and suddenly really needed to see Harry, everything just ran on and… I guess in my haste I forgot to write a note." She explained lamely.

Dad didn't look convinced. "That doesn't sound like you, Hermione. Even if by some miracle you had forgotten to write a note, you'd have remembered shortly after and came straight back…"

She shook my head. "Daddy I'm sorry… I'm just not myself! I have so much on my mind! My OWL results haven't arrived yet and you know how I get, I just desperately want to know how I did… then there's this thing with Harry and his godfather – I've been so worried about him… that's why I had to go see him, he's not been well, what with Sirius' death, I've told you about that right?" Hermione tried in vain to change the subject, she know they wouldn't accept it, and they'd certainly chase her down about it later, but with how downtrodden she looked, and having a rather fragile Harry near her ever so paternal mother, the magnitude of questions was sure to lessen.

Sure enough, her mum turned to Harry, who wasn't really paying attention, his eyes on the sea view off the edge of the cliff her house sat on. The moment she saw the expression on his face, she went to put a hand on his shoulder, a not so subtle way to grab his attention what with how jumpy he had been lately. Eyes wide with surprise, he began to stutter slightly before catching his bearings.

"Hello, Mrs Granger, we've met once before, in Diagon Alley. It was a long time ago… Mr Weasley was quite enthusiastic…"

"Oh! Yes, I remember him, very odd chap, wasn't he Charles?"

Mr Granger nodded. "Yes, he kept asking me how plugs work… You're Harry Potter then, are you?" He held out his hand to shake. "We hear so much about you from Hermione, it's nice to see you again." He smiled warmly.

Harry took a deep breath and shook Hermione's fathers hand. "You too, sir." He replied, slightly on the awkward side. He'd been on the verge of looking to Hermione for help, but he couldn't bring himself to look at her.

"We should go inside." Mrs Granger said. "It's getting cold out." She proceeded to grab her daughter by the shoulders and lead her inside. Harry being beckoned in ahead of them by her husband.

In the kitchen, with the light on Hermione's face, her mother picked up on the mud on the side of her face, and state of the clothes she was wearing. A worried look coming over her face, she put her hands on either side of her daughters face. "If something was going on with you, you'd tell me, right?"

Hermione nodded. "I tell you everything mum – don't worry, I'm fine... just tired."

"And filthy." She agreed. "What's happening with your friend?" she nodded at Harry, who was being forced to sit down at the kitchen table by Mr Granger.

Hermione gave her a grim smile. "His relatives a wretched people, mum. They kicked him out after I arrived...they despise magic, you know? I couldn't just leave him, especially since it was my fault. So I told him to pack his things and come here for the summer. I mean, I hope that's okay with you, I didn't want to assume you'd say yes, but I'm so worried about him... He'll probably go stay with Ron for a while at some point, but that won't be for a couple of weeks..."

Adelaide Granger looked scandalised. "Oh god no, you can't just send him away! Show him where the spare room is, get him settled in. He can stay for as long as he likes!" She smiled brightly. "You should have a nice long bath, and go to bed, get some rest, you look knackered..."

She nodded. "Thanks mum." Giving her a quick hug goodnight, and then her father, giving a small apology for what she knew wasn't a good enough excuse for disappearing in the night and scaring them like that.

Harry gave her an apprehensive look as she grabbed his arm and led him up the stairs to show him where he'd be staying for the next couple of weeks. "My mum said you can stay for as long as you want, but I'm assuming that we'll be asked to go to Ron's at some point." She opened the door to a spacious, very light room at the far end of the hallway. "I'm next door, and the bathrooms across the hall. My mum and dad have their own so you don't have to worry about waiting... You should unpack, just... relax, okay? I'm going to and clean myself up, then I'll explain everything, I promise."

She gave him a sincere smile, but he didn't say anything in response, preferring to nod politely and enter his room. Hermione sighed. Maybe it would be better if she hadn't done her little 'experiment' after all. She hadn't really factored in the whole neglected childhood, repressed feelings type thing Harry had going on. Repressing the urge to scream, she opened her bedroom door wide as if to slam it shut, only to close it carefully and quietly, taking a deep breath.

The complete opposite of the spare room, hers was filled to the highest extent with books. Three out of four walls were a deep red, the final, behind her bed, white, but almost completely covered in corkboards full of photographs, booklists, exam schedules, old time tables and her acceptance letter to Hogwarts. Amongst those, random posters from her childhood and larger framed photos of her favourite ones of her friends.

Her bed decorated with precisely matching bedclothes and pillows, a desk sitting opposite with her chest of draws, a wardrobe on the far right wall, next to a wall mounted full length mirror, and the only proper bookcase she had (though rather large) sat on the other side of her desk. All other free wall space was covered in shelves holding a magnitude of books, all free desktop space, any spare area at all really, was also completely covered in them.

She'd lost count of exactly how many she owned after maybe the 367th, and that was when she was 14. What should have been a very large living space was made into a cosy, somewhat library like bedroom. But she liked it, and that was all that mattered, even if the worry of the books all suddenly falling down and burying Hermione in her sleep constantly plagued her mother.

Peeling away her clothes from her completely wreaked body, she threw them unceremoniously upon the ground. Resisting the urge to just fall back across her bed in her underwear and sleep for 3 years, she grabbed a towel from her stash at the bottom of her wardrobe (so she didn't have to go to the airing cupboard every time she wanted a shower). Catching sight of herself in the mirror she winced. God that was different.

She was toned, and slim where she was in the future. Not to say that she wasn't now just... less so. She'd forgotten that she'd ever even looked like this – actually having a feminine figure. She'd gone straight from being straight up and down to having an hour-glass figure when she hit 12, and since then it had only matured into the way she was now. It was a shock to the system, to see herself like this.

Of course she was as short as ever, at about 5 foot 3, her brown hair slightly frizzy and always curly on top of that, but long. Her face still had to smooth out a bit and take on an ever so slightly more elegant tone, with age, her brown eyes still the same boring shade as ever, her legs weirdly longer than you'd expect, mostly down to how toned they were. Her hips slightly protruded more than she'd like, but her stomach was otherwise flat, and she liked to think that she had big enough boobs to make up for it, a small enough waist (by her standards at least).

Deciding that she'd start getting fit the way she had the first time around, she started to plan some sort of regime where she'd find a way of dragging Harry out running or... swimming...or... something. Shaking her head to get herself back to the current time, she pulled off her underwear and wrapped a towel around herself before making a quick dash to the bathroom.

She found her wand dutifully waiting on her bedside table when she came back out. It had a few less scuffs and scratches on it than it had in the future. Sighing with the oddity of it all, and pure tiredness, she sat down on the edge of her bed, twirling it between her fingers. She was already starting to forget what it was like where she'd came from, all of the memories and thoughts of her past catching up with her and dulling out those memories that, as far as her body was concerned, had yet to happen.

The changes she'd already made were already morphing the future into something completely different. Her problem being that she wasn't a bloody seer, and could see exactly what it was that she'd done. Getting annoyed with herself for meddling as it is, and realising that Harry was probably going to come knocking soon, she quickly cast a drying charm on her hair.

Sure enough, just after she'd thrown on some random pyjamas, Harry knocked lightly on her door, almost as if he hoped she wouldn't hear. Opening the door to let him in, she forced him to sit down beside her on the edge of her bed. He wouldn't look at her. "...Hermione?"

"Yeah?" she asked, moving to sit back against her pillows.

He turned to sit cross legged at her feet, ruffling up the back of his hair nervously. "What happened to you? You're not... you."

"I am... I'm just not the right me." Trying to find the right way to explain, she went through a couple of different starting points silently in her head. "Before I woke up outside your aunt and uncles, I was sat in front of a dear friends grave. I said the words on his gravestone and I fainted. Next thing I knew your cousin was standing over me telling me it was 1996..."

"But who-"

Motioning him to be quiet and let her finish, she continued slowly. "See, it wouldn't be all that complicated, were it not for the fact that I was 19 at the time. Harry, It was 1999, when I was sat on my friends grave, everybody I knew was gone, Voldemort was in power... and yet here I am."

"...So you travelled back in time?" He didn't look at all surprised, actually rather relieved. "So thats why you could apparate? And use magic underage? The ministry cant detect you because you're technically not underage anymore?"

She titled her head with a small smile. "I'm assuming so. It was kind of a gamble really, I just really wanted out. You're not questioning it."

He shook his head. "I trust you with my life, Hermione, you could tell me that the earth was flat and I'd believe you."

She leapt across to where he was sitting to pull him into a bone crushing hug. "Thank you. I thought you'd cart me off to Saint Mungoes!" She pulled back. "You cant tell anyone, Harry."

He shook his head vehemently. "I wont, I swear." He hesitated. "Were we... together, in the future? I mean, you kissed me when you saw me... did I leave you, or something?"

She touched his cheek lightly. "No... you didn't leave me. Not intentionally anyway. I just missed you so much! We weren't together in the future, but I'd liked you for so long, and you were gone...so the moment I saw you I just snapped. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to put you in a state before."

He looked down to where their knees were touching. "Did you mean it, what you said...?"

She smiled at him softly. "Of course I did. I wouldn't make something like that up, certainly not to you." He opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off. "You don't have to say it back Harry, especially if you don't feel it."

He snorted derisively. "To be honest, I don't think I could, even if I wanted to. I honestly cannot remember the last time someone said that to me. It just makes me feel awkward. I'm just not that sort of person; I really couldn't say it back."

Anger flaring up inside her for the shit childhood the Dursley's gave him; she put both her hands on his shoulders. "Well we'll have to change that. Even if I have to tell you that I love you every day of the week – I'll just have to keep on saying it until you get used to it."

He smiled. "Only you would think to do that, Hermione."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Don't think I won't! Every day, even if you don't want me to, even if you interpret it as a friendly gesture as opposed to the way I mean it, even if our friends take it badly, and even if the papers start up that rubbish they did in fourth year. I do love you, Harry, and you need to believe that, and get used to it, because I'm not about to stop feeling this way anytime soon."

Taking her face into his hands, he kissed her for the second time in her memory, the first slowly sliding through her finger tips as he did. She held on tighter to his shoulders as they came to fall back against her bed.

_She was in the forbidden forest at Hogwarts, everything was too hot, sweltering heat burning her back from the backlash of the woods behind her on fire. Hagrid could be seen just up ahead between a large cluster of trees, his back blocking the view of where Voldemort undoubtedly stood. Harry was walking away from her, and she was crying. _

_Grabbing his sleeve, she began to plead with him. "Please, please don't go over there. We'll find another way. You know that he'll just destroy the castle anyway after he's got you."_

_Turning to face her one last time, he shook his head. "Hermione I can't. He wants me, now. I can buy you some time to get back to the castle, and get them out. I need you to go, now, tell them to leave, organise portkeys, open the floo network, anything, just get them to go somewhere safe."_

_She dug her nails into his arms, holding him where he was. "I'm not leaving you!" _

"_You have to." He said simply. "You know you do, you know that there's no other way to do this, if you don't leave now, he'll kill you too, and then he'll go after all the people in that castle, because you couldn't alert them the danger."_

_She stood silently for a few moments, watching the red flames flickering on his emerald eyes,, hoping for the determination on his face to wan. But that wasn't who he was. She still shook her head. "No, I can't..." She whispered; head down, unable to look at him anymore._

_Tilting her head up to look at him with the tip of his finger to her chin, he smiled as best he could in the given situation. "You can do this, Hermione. I know you can."_

_Seeing the doubt on her face, he rolled his eyes, leant down and kissed her with everything he had. Breathless, and slightly weak at the knees, she held onto him tightly, trying to say something, but he wouldn't let her, holding her chin up with his hand and placing his thumb over her mouth to keep her quiet as he spoke. "I probably won't ever see you again, so you should know now... that I love you, Hermione. And for that reason I know, you can do this. But I need to go..." _

_She let out a low cry. "I love you too." _

_The surprise on his face was short lived as he kissed her again once, briefly, and held her tightly for a couple of seconds. "Keep safe, Hermione."_

"You're crying..."

Her eyes were tightly shut, and her face scrunched up. She could feel him gently wiping the tears from her cheeks. She tried to hold on to the memory of him but it was already gone.

She gasped for breath, opening her eyes. "Sorry." She whispered. "All of my memories of where I'm from are slipping away, it hurts..."

He kissed her forehead and went to lie down beside her. "You'll be alright."

"I know." She closed her eyes again. "I'm just so tired. All of my energy, the power I'd gained, it's gone. I've changed, and it's giving me a headache." She sighed, opening her eyes tiredly. "I think I need to sleep it off."

He nodded understandingly, brushing her hair away from her face. "You want me to stay with you?"

She shook her head. "No, my mum'll come and check on me before she goes to bed, she won't be happy if you're here with me."

"Alright." Heaving himself off of the bed, he pulled her duvet back ready for her to get in. "I'll see you in the morning." She hummed in response, simply not having the energy to respond. Pausing at the door, he asked one last question. "What happened, do you think? In the future I mean. What went wrong?"

"You did." She murmured, eyes closed and already half asleep. "You weren't ready, and we failed... I think it all went wrong this summer, and this is my chance to help you. I don't know why I got sent back, but I intend to find out." She yawned, and he ran his fingers through her hair one last time as she drifted back off to sleep before finally leaving to go back to the spare room to mull over what she'd just told him.

_A/N: Uhm... yeah. So, I felt like writing a chapter of this, it's sorting out my writers block on Blood and Chocolate. Its not even really writers block, I know exactly what I want to happen, I have everything planned out, I just cant bring myself to write it! I'm working on it, don't worry =]_


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